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The Treasure
Brief Summary The Treasure chronicles the middle stage of Henry Jennings' career. It is the story of him, his friends, and his enemies, in their quest to steal over 250,000 pieces of eight from the Spanish military in Florida. Plot In July of 1715, a Spanish treasure fleet departs Havana, bound for Spain. But less than a week into the voyage, the fleet sinks with all hands and treasure. The Spanish forces in St Augustine send troops to create a salvage camp. Jennings receives word of the fleet's demise and the subsequent establishment of the camp from Benjamin Hornigold, who'd helped in initial salvage operations. In mid-October 1715, Jennings officially partners himself with Samuel Bellamy and his crew, determined to seize the treasure from under Spain's nose. In the event, the expedition goes wrong almost from the start. Bellamy is a New England Puritan, with many Puritans and Calvinists aboard. In contrast, Jennings and his men are mostly either Anglicans or Catholics. This leads to violent tension between the crews, especially when Bellamy's nine year old cabin boy, the so-called "Puritan Pet" John Caine, tried to kill Edward England. Bellamy calms his cabin boy, but prospects for peace are not good. After an initial botched attack on a Spanish picket line a mile south of the salvage camp, Bellamy and Jennings sail directly into the salvage camp and massacre the guards before making off with 300,000 pesos. The ships then head to Andros, the largest island in the Bahamas. After landing on Christmas Eve, England holds prayer with the Catholics, acting as an unofficial priest. This enrages Caine, who attempts to kill England. Several Catholics, including Teach pin Caine to the ground while England bludgeons the boy to death. Bellamy is furious. He stabs Jennings and Hornigold, shouting "Death to the Papists!". His crew quickly follow as Bellamy himself chased England into the jungle. After a swift duel, Bellamy nearly kills England, but is stabbed several times by Jennings, who'd survived thanks to a cuirass which he'd purchased in Nassau. With their leader dead, Bellamy's men surrender. Some stay, others are more than happy to leave the deserted island. On his ship, Jennings receives into his crew the former Royal Marine Charles Vane, who'd joined Bellamy after the War of the Spanish Succession in search of employment. Upon arrival in Kingston in January, the privateers are halted by Royal Marines and militia, under orders from the governor to arrest Henry Jennings. Posing as one of his own underlings, Jennings gets his some of his men off the ships. Edward England, Edward Teach, and John Rackham all leave. Charles Vane, Thomas Hamilton, and the 17 year old confidante of Jennings, John Taylor remain. Their ships depart and they arrive in the Bahamas two weeks later. Cast Henry Jennings- played by William Kenton. William had wanted to play the role since the film had been conceptualized in 2014. His interpretation of Jennings in this film was one of business and mystery. William would play Jennings once more in the second film. Edward England- Jack Kenton. Jack was the director's first choice to play England. In the words of the director, "He is a perfect complement to his brother's performance; he is mysterious, but not shadowy or ambitious. Moreover, Edward England is precisely those things: he is Jennings' true friend and most loyal man" Jack would play England again in The Treasure: Part II. Samuel Bellamy/Charles Vane/Edward Teach- Christopher Quinn played the three roles due to a shortage of actors. Although Teach does not appear in the main plotline of the second film, he is depicted by Quinn in flashbacks to the earlier days. Quinn also played Vane again. John Caine/John Taylor- Edward Kenton, the youngest actor, was chosen to play both John Caine and Taylor. Caine dies about two thirds of the way through the film, while John Taylor is introduced at the end of the film and is expanded on as a character in both the novelization and the second film. Edward would reprise the role of Caine in the following film. Production Pre-Production and Inaccuracies The Treasure was the brainchild of director/actor Christopher Quinn, inspired by the real life career of Henry Jennings and his raid on the Spanish salvage camp in Palmar De Ayes. While the actual raid was of minimal importance historically it did serve as a consolidation point for future pirates, many of whom are mentioned either in the novelization or are depicted in the film. However, their exploits are heavily fictionalized. For instance, Samuel Bellamy did not die until 1717 during a shipwreck, not a battle. Caine suffered the same fate as his captain. Jennings was allowed to return to Jamaica along with his men, and there is no evidence to suggest that John Taylor was either a pirate or was even involved in the raid on the salvage camp at this time in history. The film was initially conceived in 2014, with a treatment written by summer of that same year. In addition, a sequel was written in a basic plot form, called The Treasure: Part II . This film took precedent over its predecessor, largely because the actors and director found the plot and depth of characters far more interesting in the second chapter. Both films were placed on hold for nearly two years, however, as the director and actors worked on a remake of The Battle of Algiers. But in July, 2017, the two films were finally written as screenplays. After securing financing from both Michael Quinn and Ken Schoen, production began in earnest the following month. Production The two films were set in the Caribbean during the early 18th century. With a scant budget, the cast and crew drove to Cambridge, Maryland, where the countryside looked as it may have in 1700. After a six day shoot in Maryland, the production unit returned to New Jersey, and finished filming there. The films took three weeks from start to finish. The costumes were all either pre made or were reenacting equipment owned by the production company (Gaslight Studios). These were all relatively cheap and fairly durable as far as filmmaking materials went. Post Production This film was edited as it went along. Partially this was to avoid the need to delete earlier footage to make room for more, but also to seek advice from the cast and crew. As often as not, special effects were not used. This was because the special effects which would be required were expensive and the ad-hoc replacements for said effects were not of the best quality. Possible Trilogy During 2018, the possibility of making a third film in the saga was discussed with the lead actor William Kenton (listed as Kernan in credits as his stage name), Director Christopher Quinn, and Hugo Tolgamich of the up-and-coming HT&HT Productions. However, due to financial, scheduling, and traveling circumstances, the concept of the third film was postponed indefinitely. __NEWSECTIONLINK__